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Anderson, Martinez Medal at U.S. National Boxing Tourney

WASHINGTON, March 19, 1997  Army boxing team members Spc. Olanda Anderson and Sgt. Bradley Martinez of Fort Huachuca, Ariz., captured medals at the 1997 U.S. National Boxing championships.

Boxers from all four armed services fought March 7-15 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. Anderson and Martinez -- both 1997 armed forces champions -- were the only military boxers to gain the tournament semifinals.

Anderson captured a silver medal, losing a 5-0 decision to defending national champion Anthony Stewart in the 178-pound finals. Martinez dropped a 3-2 decision to Karoz Norman in the 106-pound semifinals to win a bronze medal.

"My plan was to win the first round, and I didn't do it," said Anderson after his bout. "Once I got behind, it was impossible for me to catch up."

Army Sgt. Byron Moore echoed Anderson's comments. "We knew he [Stewart] was an aggressive fighter, and we wanted to use his aggressiveness as a way to beat him," said Moore. "We stayed back, kept moving around the ring and forced him into lunging at Anderson to get his shots. We wanted Anderson to counterpunch at those lunges to score points.

"We tried to pick it up in the second round, and I told Anderson that we had to stop moving around and take the action to Stewart if we were going to win," said Moore. "But it wasn't until the third round that Anderson felt he could take a punch from Stewart and continue fighting."

By that time, the fight was already out of hand. Moore said Anderson began exchanging blows with Stewart in a knockout attempt, but knew Stewart had enough experience to hold him off.

"You have to respect a fighter, but there are times when you show too much," said Moore. "I think Anderson did just that in the first two rounds, and that cost him the fight."

In getting to the finals, Anderson earned three decisions during the single-elimination tournament. He defeated Benjamin Flores 4-1 in his opening match, sending him to a quarterfinal match with Carl Handy. After defeating Handy 5-0, Anderson easily defeated Limmie Young to earn a spot in the finals.

Martinez said his bout could have gone either way.

"Norman came up to me after the fight and said 'Bradley, they gave me this one,'" said Martinez, a former national champion at 106 pounds. "But whenever you have a 3-2 decision, you know the results are going to be close."

On his way to the bronze medal, Martinez captured two victories. He dominated his opening round match, earning a 5-0 decision from Michael Keopuhiwa. He then moved into the tournament semifinals with a 4-1 decision over Ronald Siders.

Nearly 30 fighters from the four military services competed in Colorado for national titles. The following are the official results: 106 pounds